History
Organisational history of the Department of Environmental Development and Remote Sensing
The Department of Environmental Development and Remote Sensing was established on 1 February 2025 by merging the Department of Remote Sensing and Environmental Assessment and the Department of Environmental Development. This new department brings together the expertise of both previous departments and focuses on environmental research and the application of modern remote sensing technologies.
Prof. dr hab. inż. Maja Radziemska was appointed Head of the Department, and dr hab. Jarosław Chormański was appointed Deputy Head of the Department.
The Department of Environmental Development was established on 1 January 2000 by merging the Department of Environmental Development and Land Reclamation, and the Department of Natural Basis of Environmental Engineering. In 2011, the Environmental Remediation Unit was transferred from the Department of Water Engineering and Environmental Remediation to the Department of Environmental Development. Prof. dr hab. Tomasz Brandyk was the head of the Department from 2000 to 2008; prof. dr hab. inż. Edward Pierzgalski from 2009 to 2012; dr inż. Jan Szatyłowicz from 2013 to 2020; and dr hab. inż. Agnieszka Karczmarczyk from 2021 to 2025.
The history of the Department of Environmental and Land Development dates back to the Faculty’s founding. In 1946, the Department of Agricultural Improvement was established at the Faculty of Agriculture to support the Land Reclamation Section. In 1948, it was reorganised into the Department of Agricultural Construction and Land Reclamation. Stanisław Turczynowicz was appointed the head of both departments.
In 1951, the Department of Agricultural Construction and Land Reclamation was renamed the Department of Land Reclamation and transferred to the Faculty of Land Development.
In the academic year 1954–1955, within the Faculty of Land Reclamation, the Department of Land Reclamation changed its name to the Department of Land and Forest Reclamation, comprising three divisions: Agricultural Land Improvement, Forest Land Improvement, and Agricultural Wastewater Utilisation. The Department of Land and Forest Reclamation was established and headed by prof. zw. dr hab. inż. Jerzy Ostromęcki until his retirement in 1976.
From 1970 to 1982, the Department, functioning as the Chair of Land and Forest Reclamation and, since 1976, headed by dr Edward Zawada, was part of the Institute of Land and Forest Reclamation (1970–1978) and the Institute of Land Reclamation and Water Management (1979–1982).
In 1983, after the dissolution of the institutes and the re-establishment of departmental structures, dr hab. inż. Stanisław Łojewski assumed leadership of the Department of Land and Forest Reclamation (until 1986), followed by prof. zw. dr hab. inż. Czesław Somorowski, who led the Department until 1999. In 1996, the Department’s name was changed to the Department of Environmental Development.
The establishment of the Department of Natural Basis of Environmental Development is linked to the founding in 1956 of the Department of Plant Ecology, which in 1962 was merged with the Department of Grassland Science to form the Department of Natural Basis of Land Reclamation, whose name was renamed in 1995 as the Department of Natural Basis of Environmental Development. Prof. dr inż. Józef Prończuk became the first head of this department. Prof. dr hab. inż. Mikołaj Nazaruk was the head from 1982 to 1986, prof. dr hab. inż. Henryk Pawłat from 1987 to 1996, and prof. dr hab. inż. Kazimierz Piekut from 1997 to 1999.
In 2000, the Department of Environmental Development and Land Reclamation was merged with the Department of Natural Bases of Environmental Development. The new unit, named the Department of Environmental Development, consisted of two divisions: Environmental Development and Land Reclamation, headed by prof. dr hab. Józef Mosiej, and Natural Bases of Environmental Development, headed by prof. dr hab. Kazimierz Piekut. Following the incorporation of the Environmental Remediation Unit into the Department in 2011, the Department’s internal structure comprised four units: Land Reclamation Engineering, Ecological Engineering, Environmental Remediation, and Natural Basis of Environmental Engineering. In 2013, the number of units was reduced to three: Land Reclamation Engineering, Ecological Engineering and Environmental Remediation, and Natural Basis of Environmental Engineering. They were headed, respectively, by dr hab. inż. Tomasz Gnatowski, dr hab. inż. Ryszard Oleszczuk (2013–2016), prof. dr hab. inż. Józef Mosiej, and dr hab. inż. Bogumiła Pawluśkiewicz.
Main research areas
The research areas of the units comprising the current Department of Environmental Development and Remote Sensing are reflected in their names. In the former Department of Land and Forest Reclamation, research and teaching were closely connected to Poland’s land and water reclamation investment programmes. The team that shaped the scientific discipline and the programme curriculum included Jerzy Ostromęcki, Kalina Smólska, Leonard Skibniewski, Zygmunt Sochoń, Stanisław Łojewski, Edward Zawada, and Czesław Somorowski. Their successors, Tomasz Brandyk, Edward Pierzgalski, Edmund Kaca, Piotr Hewelke, Jerzy Jeznach, Józef Mosiej, Andrzej Wanke, Stanisław Żakowicz, Ryszard Oleszczuk, Tomasz Gnatowski, and others continued their legacy.
The scientific research undertaken until the 1990s covered several research areas. The most extensive studies focused on soil water conditions, changes in soil properties due to drainage, soil profile balance, preparing river basin water balances, determining crop water needs, and developing methods to assess water deficits. These studies were linked to a second important research area: developing methods for calculating parameters used in the design of drainage and irrigation systems, including the principles for their operation.
Soil-based wastewater treatment and its application in agriculture were the third important research area. For instance, water and substance management in the irrigation system of the Ner River Valley and the problems of wastewater disposal from the agri-food industry were analysed. The theoretical and methodological foundations of the effectiveness of water and land reclamation investments were developed within the field of land reclamation economics, and the results were applied in technical manuals. The Agricultural Experimental Stations in Puczniew and Wilanów, the Osownica River experimental catchment, and land reclamation structures in Stara Noteć and Solec were organised and maintained to conduct the above-mentioned research.
When most land and water reclamation investment programmes in Poland were terminated in the 1990s, the proper maintenance of existing structures in the context of water management and environmental protection became increasingly important. The research comprised two directions:
- water management and land reclamation for the sustainable development of agricultural land,
- regulating the water balance of soils and catchments in the context of environmental protection.
In the 1980s, the Natural Bases of Environmental Engineering Unit conducted research covering:
- ecological and economic assessment of grassland ecosystems functioning,
- inventory and valorisation of valuable natural resources,
- environmental protection in agriculture and land reclamation.
In the 1990s, the main research areas included:
- evaluating river valley ecosystems and assessing changes in the natural and agricultural environment in reclaimed valley meadows in line with sustainable development,
- examining natural conditions influencing turf reinforcement formation in urbanised areas,
- assessing the costs of mitigating the negative impact of different farming systems on the natural environment.
In the former Environmental Remediation Unit, which became part of the Department in 2013, research covered land restoration techniques and environmental protection in degraded areas.
Following the establishment of the present structure of the Department, the main research areas included:
- innovative and cost-effective water management in agriculture and forestry systems under climate change,
- applying ecological engineering approaches to land restoration, pollution mitigation, and water resource management in rural and urbanised areas.
The Department’s research profile is characterised by topics defined in research grants and projects, as well as by the requirements for obtaining academic degrees. For instance, the research topics include:
- methods for managing valley land reclamation facilities under different natural and agricultural conditions,
- diversity of invertebrate fauna in small and medium-sized lowland rivers as an element of their ecological evaluation,
- assessment of the impact of drainage of clay soils on the components of the water balance and biogeochemical migration,
- conversion of precipitation into surface runoff in relation to agricultural soil protection,
- role of small water bodies in rural areas and areas with varying degrees of urbanisation,
- rational management of peat soil resources for the protection of natural and landscape values,
- characteristics of the shrinkage-swelling processes for predicting soil moisture content in peat-muck soils,
- thermal properties of peat-muck soils for modelling heat and water cycles in post-bog ecosystems,
- bioindicators of environmental pollution, especially with heavy metals,
- indicators of biologically active areas used in shaping the spatial structure of residential areas,
- local wastewater treatment plants and the use of wastewater for irrigation of energy plants,
- possibilities of application of natural and artificial sorbents for the removal of pollutants from water and soil.
Laboratories
The Department has well-equipped laboratories in the Water Centre building:
Ecotechnology Laboratory,
Porous Media Physics Laboratory,
Irrigation and Drainage Laboratory.
There are also laboratories dedicated to teaching activities in Building 33:
Water Flow Processes in Unsaturated Porous Media Laboratory,
a greenhouse and a vegetation hall.
Field research is conducted at various sites, depending on the specific research problem.
Important scientific achievements of the Department
Important scientific achievements of the Department include:
- defining the principles of design and operation of drainage and irrigation systems,
- developing theoretical methods for determining parameters characterising soil volume changes during alluvial soil shrinkage and for modelling water flow in soils with variable geometry,
- developing theoretical models for estimating volume changes in shallow peat-muck soil profiles,
- developing methods for the environmental assessment of river valleys,
- developing guidelines for optimising the soil air-water balance in relation to its productive potential and protection,
- assessing water resources in rural areas, including methods for their treatment and management,
- developing statistical relations between selected soil physical parameters and soil moisture conditions,
- developing monitoring procedures for identifying pollution sources in rivers and protected areas using selected groups of bioindicators,
- assessing the impact of bottom sediments on water chemistry in wastewater receiving bodies.
The research findings were presented in numerous scientific articles, books, and monographs. Key publications include:
1. Ostromęcki, J. (1964). Introduction to Agricultural Land Reclamation. State Publishing House for Agriculture and Forestry.
2. Ostromęcki, J. (1973). Irrigation. Polish Scientific Publishers.
3. Ostromęcki, J. (1975). Introduction to Agricultural Land Reclamation. Part 1. Warsaw University of Life Sciences Press.
4. Prończuk, J. (1982). Agricultural Ecology. Polish Scientific Publishers.
5. Somorowski, Cz. (ed.) (1993). Modern Problems of Land Reclamation. Warsaw University of Life Sciences Press.
6. Somorowski, Cz. (ed.) (1998). Water balance criteria for managing habitats in an agricultural landscape. Warsaw University of Life Sciences Press.
7. Wesołowski, A., Krzywosz, Z., & Brandyk, T. (2000). Geosynthetics in engineering structures. Warsaw University of Life Sciences Press.
8. Brandyk, T., Szajdak, L., & Szatyłowicz, J. (eds.) (2006). Physical and chemical properties of organic soils. Warsaw University of Life Sciences Press.
9. Hewelke, P. (ed.) (2007). Natural resources as an opportunity for sustainable development. Warsaw University of Life Sciences Press.
The Department’s broad technical and environmental research spectrum is evidenced by the titles of monographs associated with the academic degrees:
1. Liwski, S. (1963). The role of copper in peat soil fertilisation.
2. Maciak, F. (1963). Studies on nitrogen forms in peat soils.
3. Okruszko, H. (1964). Determining the phosphorus fertilisation requirements of peat soils using the example of a peat bog Kuwasy.
4. Somorowski, Cz. (1965). Soil water resources in the water balance of river basins.
5. Tołwińska, M. (1967). The effects of habitat conditions on plant productivity and the persistence of some plant species in the sward of drained meadows.
6. Nazaruk, M. (1979). Effectiveness of long-term irrigation of pastures located on light soils.
7. Pawłat, H. (1982). The limits of productivity of irrigated grasslands under varying fertilisation conditions.
8. Pierzgalski, E. (1990). Control of soil moisture using subsurface irrigation.
9. Brandyk, T. (1990). Basics of regulating soil moisture in valleys.
10. Kaca, E. (1991). Water management in subirrigation systems.
11. Wanke, A. (1993). Regulating water balances in agricultural areas supplied with confined groundwater.
12. Hewelke, P. (1994). Principles of soil moisture regulation using drip irrigation.
13. Jeznach, J. (1996). Performance of drip irrigation systems in various environmental conditions.
14. Piekut, K. (1997). Equilibrium state of grassland ecosystems in the conditions of diversified water-nutrient management.
15. Mosiej, J. (1999). Natural and technical conditions of water management in the Ner River valley.
16. Pawluśkiewicz, B. (2009). Analysis of the potential of turfgrass cultivars for improving grass surfaces in urbanised areas.
17. Żakowicz, S. (2010). Irrigation technologies for municipal waste landfills.
18. Oleszczuk, R. (2011). Volumetric changes in drained and irrigated fen peat soils.
19. Gnatowski, T. K. (2016). Thermal characteristics of peat-muck soils in the Biebrza Valley.
20. Oglecki, P. (2015). The diversity of macroinvertebrate habitats in small and medium-sized lowland rivers for ecological status assessment.
21. Dąbrowski, P. (2018). Ecophysiological responses of Lolium perenne L. and Festuca rubra ssp. commutata on the selected stress factor in the context of green urban infrastructure management.
22. Radziemska, M. (2018). Application of materials for heavy-metal immobilisation via assisted phytostabilisation.
23. Karczmarczyk, A. (2018). Phosphorus removal from water using reactive materials/filters.
24. Baryła, A. (2019). The role of green roofs in adapting cities to climate change.
25. Bus, A. (2019). Reactive materials for the mitigation of phosphate pollution in the environment.
Teaching activities
The Department’s staff conduct classes in study programmes within their home faculty (Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Engineering and Water Management) and at other faculties (Ecological Engineering, Renewable Energy Technologies, Forestry, Spatial Management, Landscape Architecture, Horticulture, Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine). The Department’s teaching activities are extensive and cover subjects delivered at all study levels, as well as courses for international students participating in the Erasmus programme. They include:
- regulating water balance on agriculturally used areas (basics of drainage and irrigation engineering, porous media physics, drainage and irrigation engineering, development of valley areas, water management in agricultural areas, soil protection from erosion),
- rural infrastructure (technical infrastructure, environmental engineering),
- environmental protection (biology and ecology, inland waters ecology, civilisation hazards and sustainable development, environmental management, on-site wastewater treatment plants, methods of ecological engineering in environmental protection, reclamation of degraded areas, environmental impact assessment).
The Department’s staff have prepared a range of teaching materials, including:
- Pierzgalski, E. (1996). Land reclamation – subirrigation systems. Warsaw University of Life Sciences Press.
- Wanke, A., & Jędryka, G. (2001). Design and construction of agricultural drainage. Warsaw University of Life Sciences Press.
- Żakowicz, S., Hewelke, P., & Gnatowski, T. (2009). Technical infrastructure in agricultural space. Warsaw University of Life Sciences Press.
- Garbulewski, K., Mosiej, J., & Popek, Z. (2015). Landscape engineering. Warsaw University of Life Sciences Press.
International cooperation
The Department’s international cooperation is focused on shared research topics under contracts and bilateral agreements with institutions in Sweden, Israel, the Netherlands, Belgium, Turkiye, Germany, the USA, Russia, and Kazakhstan. Cooperation with the following partners has proved particularly fruitful:
- Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium (retention and hydraulic soil properties measurement methods),
- Royal Institute of Technology – KTH in Sweden (methods for managing and protecting rural areas in Scandinavian countries and Poland, the application of natural sorbents to improve on-site wastewater treatment plants’ efficiency),
- Agronomy Department, Purdue University in the USA (modelling of water and chemical compound movement in drained soil profiles),
- Alterra, Green World Research in the Netherlands (water management for peat soil resources protection),
- Wageningen University in the Netherlands (modelling of water movement in unsaturated soil zones),
- Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra and Cornell University in the USA (sustainable rural landscape management),
- Kazan State Agricultural University in Russia (wastewater management, water management in degraded areas, modern irrigation systems).
The major achievements of the Department’s research teams include participation in international research programmes, notably the 5th EU Framework Programme (EUROPEAT, 2002–2005), the 6th EU Framework Programme (WACOSYS, 2004–2006), as well as involvement in international teams of authors contributing to monographs titled Climate Global Change, Water Use and Management, Wetlands and Agricultural Runoff, Rural Development and Land Use, Organic Soils and Peat Materials for Sustainable Agriculture. The Department coordinates international cooperation under the Baltic Sea Region Programme/Visby Programme, funded by the Swedish Institute, a unit of the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, focusing on student and academic staff exchanges. The Department has also established scientific cooperation with Uppsala University in the field of education for sustainable development under the Baltic University Programme (since 1995) and has carried out an EU project under the LEONARDO programme aimed at developing educational materials on water management.